1/12/17

Depth is a key to winning championships because injuries can
and do happen. Just look at the Mets
last year when it seemed at one time or another everyone this side of Bartolo Colon
missed time on the DL. While there are a
lot of pundits saying the Mets have the horses to win IF they stay healthy, the
2016 season sure should have made people realize the magnitude of that two
letter word. As I've said before, wishing and hoping is not a sound plan for success.

First Base

If you bow your head to some deity, then please pray that no
more James Loney or Eric Campbell types should get starting assignments for the
Mets if Lucas Duda is unable to play.
Wilmer Flores proved he can hammer left handed pitching and each of the
last two seasons as a part time player has provided 16 HRs. 25 HRs on a full time basis does not seem
beyond the realm of possibility if the manager will let him out of his doghouse
long enough to contribute. Beyond Flores
it gets mighty thin quickly. Jay Bruce
has had but 3 games of experience there.
T.J. Rivera has had 40. Kevin
Plawecki (remember him?) has just 25. Theoretically
they could bump up Dominic Smith from the minors if the injury happened early
enough and was severe enough that they felt he could have time to adjust to the
majors.

Second Base

As thin as the Mets are at 1st, they have an
embarrassment of riches should Neil Walker hit the DL once again. Players with extensive major league
experience include Jose Reyes, Asdruba Cabrera and Wilmer Flores. Then you have the guys with mostly minor
league time there including T.J. Rivera and Matt Reynolds. I’d throw Gavin Cecchini into the mix as well
as most feel he will likely be the starting 2nd baseman for Las
Vegas with Amed Rosario taking over at SS.

Shortstop

Many of the same bodies you have in the 2nd base
mix could also be factored in should Asdrubal Cabrera become unable to
play. The first option would of course
be Jose Reyes, followed a distant second by Wilmer Flores if they wanted
offense or Matt Reynolds if they wanted defense. T.J. Rivera provides more with the bat than
the glove. The same applies to
error-prone Gavin Cecchini. After Reyes
the next long term solution might be an early promotion for Rosario.

Third Base

David Wright’s gone from face of major league baseball to
almost an afterthought despite still being paid like the former. In his case it’s not if but when he misses
time and the same cast of infield characters will be available, including
Reyes, Flores, Rivera and perhaps Reynolds.
Cecchini has not had time there, but both Neil Walker and Asdrubal
Cabrera have, so an entire infield rotation is possible, too.

Catcher

As Travis d’Arnaud has not proven to very durable, the
reality of a prolonged absence is probably as good a bet as Wright being on the
DL. Unfortunately, the d’Arnaud
alternatives over the past several seasons have not been very good – Anthony Recker
(gone), Kevin Plawecki (minors) and Rene Rivera (all glove/no hit). The team has not addressed this issue and the
public statements seem to reflect it’s once again TdA’s job to lose. Somewhere Matt Weiters has to have a d’Arnaud
voodoo doll. This position seems the
most vulnerable of all.

Outfield

I’m going to lump all of the outfielders into one bucket
since there is no clear answer as to who will or will not be here when the
season begins in April beyond Yoenis Cespedes.
Right now if nothing changes (and so far it appears that nothing will)
your starting outfield should be Yoenis Cespedes in LF, Curtis Granderson in CF
and Jay Bruce in RF. Juan Lagares is
pretty much a given as one of the backups with his Gold Glove pedigree and
expensive contract. The wildcards are
Michael Conforto and Brandon Nimmo.
Conforto rebounded beautifully in AAA after having skipped that level
when he was promoted during the 2015 World Series year. Having hit .424 down there, you’d think there’s
nothing much to be gained except the guarantee to play every day. Nimmo appeared unintimidated by major league
pitching and came within a single point of the PCL batting title, falling just
behind teammate T.J. Rivera. Beyond
these players creating a logjam at the major league level there’s not
much. Travis Taijeron has been on the
cusp of the majors for a few years now, but his strikeout totals have been
somewhat alarming. Wuilmer Becerra
should continue to make his way up the ladder but this year he’s likely going
to repeat A+ after an injury shortened campaign with a promotion to AA later in
the year.

Starting Rotation

Another yet-to-be-settled situation is who starts, who
relieves and who is waiting in the wings.
In an ideal world the Mets would go to battle with Noah Syndergaard,
Jacob de Grom, Matt Harvey, Steve Matz and Zack Wheeler with late season heroes
Seth Lugo and Robert Gsellman either in AAA or in the bullpen should someone
falter. Of course, there are people
advocating Wheeler take the bullpen role with one of the younger pitchers getting
the 5th starter slot. There’s
also Gabriel Ynoa as a wildcard factor as well as Sean Gilmartin who has had
extensive starting experience.

Bullpen

After Jeurys Familia, Addison Reed and Hansel Robles, the
rest of the pen is pretty unsettled and ranks right up there with Catcher as an
area of concern particularly when the duration of Familia’s likely suspension
is revealed. Josh Edgin has had health
issues and Josh Smoker has had control issues, but unless they bring in someone
from the outside, they loom as the likely lefties. The aforementioned Gilmartin is also a lefty, but he's apparently sharing space in Collins' doghouse after a terrific 2015 when he was rewarded with a ticket to Vegas. There’s Erik Goeddel, the starter turned
reliever, who has also had health problems each of the past few years. It’s pretty sketchy after that with minor
leaguers not on the 40-man roster like Paul Sewald, David Roseboom as well as
newcomers Ben Rowen and Cory Burns fighting for spots. Given the precarious state of health of the
starters it’s doubly puzzling to most fans that Sandy Alderson has not
addressed how thin this group is.

7
comments:

Thankfully, no room for any Tejada or Campbell types at this stage. de Aza types can stay far away, too.

Rafael Montero is still lurking out there somewhere as an arm for the pen or rotation, but he has to show he can regroup.

I still think the Mets have $13 million mighty good reasons to move Bruce before OD 2017...it is reasonable (if still a bit iffy) to think Conforto might be his equal offensively in 2017, perhaps better, and a lot cheaper.

A way to develop great depth was the Yankee way: They signed Andrew Miller for a lot of $$, got awesome production from him, then traded him for Clint Frazier, who sounds like a future perennial All Star - big article on him today in NY Post. Something Sandy would not have, but should have, done, but the Yanks had the foresight and willingness to spend to do.

@Tom -- since when do you see a PLAN of any kind, let alone advance planning? Thus far the only "Plan" is to dump salary THEN pick from whatever scraps might be leftover by the time you get around to doing that.

You are right, Reese...them planning to spend high for a huge potential performer who they could easily flip later for gold...they don't even think that way. Bruce somewhat similar, but they only went after him because Yo got hurt and conforto was not hitting at all. And as an offensive player, he is nowhere near what Miller gives a team - he was extremely coveted and Yanks loved his performance and really did great in trading him..